Ideas for things to photograph?

britonk · Nov 21, 2006

Hi,

I have been into cameras and photography for years but have only recently brought a DSLR. I want to get more into photography and whilst I have plenty of opportunity to take pics on holiday I am stuck for inspiration when at home.

Does anyone have any good simple ideas of things I could photograph? Obviously their is nature photography but wild animals are a bit scarce round here - I might catch the odd bird if I am lucky!

Any ideas greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Weaving Wax · Nov 21, 2006

Well, I'm not familar with your area, but you can take a photo of just about anything. Even the most simple things like a beer/soda can can be made interesting. Where I come from, cool things to photograph are rare as well, just take mundane things like bottles, cans or a mailbox and make it interesting.. Try different angles, filters, speeds..etc..etc..

Tyson · Nov 21, 2006

Weaving Wax said:
Well, I'm not familar with your area, but you can take a photo of just about anything. Even the most simple things like a beer/soda can can be made interesting. Where I come from, cool things to photograph are rare as well, just take mundane things like bottles, cans or a mailbox and make it interesting.. Try different angles, filters, speeds..etc..etc..

I agree, I have yet to purches my new DSLR but I have plenty to shoot. Even when I got to work, the people and things they do are photographic. I can take a picture of anything and make it worthy of a glance.

Alex_B · Nov 21, 2006

if you have a macro lens, then you can do fun things at home! there are lots of boring objects which become fun when seen from very close distance

.. and you can control the light very well.

start with your toothbrush ... if it is not in a too bad state

uberben · Nov 21, 2006

a project that I have done is shoot something 100 unique ways. Take a street lamp as an example, try to think about different angles, viewpoints and parts of the lamp that could be photographed. It get really hard when as you get closer to 100. Its really a brainstorming project that gets your noodle cooking to come up with ways to make a common photo uncommon.

ZyxKor · Nov 21, 2006

You've got tons of material to shoot. I guess it depends more on what is your favorite type of photograph - people, architecture, wildlife. I am a newbie myself but I love photographs of unique or odd things as well as common things shot from different angles. For starters: Your house, things in it, the outside, the garden. Unique houses/cottages/buildings close to you. Your town or local villages, streets, high street areas, forgotten monuments and markers, etc. Stately homes, old churches, castles. Go up to Liverpool and take pictures of the coastline. Manchester has big old Industrial Estates. The older and more abandoned the more interesting. Take a weekend trip somewhere and just take photos. No rhyme or reason, just "this was my weekend" kinda thing.

ZyxKor · Nov 21, 2006

Here's a start for Manchester's City Centre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_city_centre

ShootHoops · Nov 21, 2006

I sit here in my parent's room, and I realize that there are tons of things around me that I could be taking pictures of. I just took a few snapshots of my class ring.

cosmonaut · Nov 21, 2006

Just some general landscapes, buildings, statues, anything from your local town. I would be interested in just where you live.
Cosmo

britonk · Nov 22, 2006

Thanks for the ideas! I was looking for something more specific but I guess you right I need to experiment more with HOW I take the photos. I live in the UK in a city called Stoke on Trent (where Robbie Williams is from LOL).

Ab$olut · Nov 22, 2006

try your local park,town centre,rivers/canals are good too don't be worried about people looking at you either I feared this when I first got into photography :lol:

I just ignore them now :wink:

xfloggingkylex · Nov 22, 2006

The idea I have had the most fun with is the sink. I go to the bathroom, turn the faucet on to a drop and shoot as close up as possible of the drops as they leave the faucet.

here are some others I've done around the house just messing around

I like shooting things around the house because it makes you think a lot harder (unless it comes naturally) about how to make it look good.

oh and this is all done with the 18-55 3.5-5.6 kit lens.

Iron Flatline · Nov 22, 2006

You could keep a photoblog, and post a picture daily (or more or less, pending on how prolific you end up being.) In that case, the most important thing to remember is that the things that are mundane to you are exotic to people from elsewhere in the world. The baker or gas station may seem boring to you, but to someone in LA or Moscow it is cool to see your creative capture of something day-to-day. Also,find out about fairs and public events. Stoke-on-Trent? Got a river near by? Boat races? A mill? A valuable secret military installation? (Just kidding about that last one...)

Anyway... my dad always said only boring people get bored. Don't be boring.

Torus34 · Nov 22, 2006

Spend a bit of time tracking down some of the great still lifes of artists working in the 19th and 20th century. Note the lighting. Then get busy.

gizmo2071 · Nov 23, 2006

Do what I do.
Get a dictionary and open it up randomly and choose a word. Then use that word and make a picture to show what the word means to you.
http://blogs.myspace.com/masc_
I have a few up on there.
Can be really challenging sometimes, but it sure gets your imagination running wild.

Also..... here's a list of word.